Wireless microcontrollers release precise amounts of antibiotics, painkillers, growth factors or other medications. The bandage, which remains several years from market, could improve treatment of chronic skin wounds related to diabetes. Read more at Nebraska Today.

A team led by National Institutes of Health-funded researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Nebraska has developed a method to enhance a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent with safe-to-use, metal-free compounds. The researchers used organic molecules carried by synthetic nanoparticles. The nanoparticles illuminated tumor tissue in mice just as well as metal-based contrast agents.

A research team has now developed a DNA nanotechnology-based method that allows for repeated, non-destructive recording of uniquely barcoded molecular pairings, rendering a detailed view of their components and geometries. In the future, the approach could help researchers understand how changes in molecular complexes control biological processes in living cells. Read more from the Wyss Institute News.

A new 3-D fabrication method has been developed that can create a new type of drug-carrying particle that could allow several doses of a drug or vaccine to be delivered over an extended time period with just one injection. Read more at MIT News.

NIH-funded biomedical engineers have developed a rapid test using a single drop of blood for early detection of the deadly blood infection, sepsis. The microfluidic chip could enable early intervention for this life-threatening complication, which accounts for the most deaths and highest medical expenses in hospitals worldwide.

For kids and adults with food allergies, a restaurant outing can be a fraught experience. Even when care is taken, freshly prepared or packaged meals can accidentally become cross-contaminated with an offending food and trigger a reaction. Now researchers report the development of a new portable allergen-detection system -- including a keychain analyzer -- that could help prevent trips to the emergency room. Read more at Phys Org.

A new approach to evaluating the risk of preterm birth has been proposed by analyzing the properties of cervical mucus. The researchers found that cervical mucus from women who delivered their babies early, before 37 weeks, was very different from that of women who delivered later. Read more at MIT News.

A team of University of Maryland bioengineering undergraduate students just took home the top prize—a $20,000 award—in the Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) competition by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). Read more at Washingtonian.